Outside of fans of the Memphis Grizzlies, not many people recognize the name Yuta Watanabe. However, after his rookie season in the NBA, that is starting to change. His popularity is increasing around the globe.
Watanabe played on a two-way contract over the course of the entire 2018-19 season. After being cut from the Brooklyn Nets’ roster ahead of the season, the Grizzlies swiftly swooped in and added Yuta to their player development plans. Looking back over the course of the past seven months, it was a positive decision.
When Yuta Watanabe checked into his first regular season NBA game for the Memphis Grizzlies on October 27th, 2018 in a home victory over the Phoenix Suns, he became just the second Japanese-born player to accomplish this feat.